​Glenn Minnis

Even Johnny Manziel’s harshest critics can’t say the Cleveland Browns rookie quarterback hasn’t been a man of his word.

Days after the notoriously hard-partying former Heisman Trophy winner boasted that he wasn’t going “to change who I am for anybody” he showed the world just how much he meant what he said by retweeting a “selfie” of himself hanging out with bad boy pop star Justin Bieber and equally colorful boxing champ Floyd Mayweather.

All this comes after Hall of Famers Emmitt Smith, Joe Montana and Warren Moon all advised the 22-year-old former Texas A&M star to concentrate more on football and his NFL bosses implored him to “tone things down” a bit.

So controversial has Johnny Football’s way of being become even some of those who now come out in support of his lifestyle seem to do him more harm than good in pointing out just how much they may have once had in common with him.

“Do what you got to do,” Jets veteran running back Chris Johnson told NFL.com of Manziel. “It’s the offseason. That’s when you get time to do whatever you want to do and live your life. I’m pretty sure once the season gets here, he’ll be all right. He’s going to focus in on football. But this is the time now where he’ll be able to hang out and do some of the things you want to do.”

Johnson’s words and advice for Manziel were essentially mimicked by former NFL running back Ricky Williams, who recently opined “sometime people need to have fun to play well.”

In Manziel’s defense, he didn’t ask for a man who’s now basically best remembered for walking away from the game entirely because it seemed to interfere with his habit of smoking weed nor a man whose production and interest have noticeably both decreased in two of the three seasons since he signed his biggest payday for the only franchise he’s ever known prior to them cutting bait with him this offseason.

But the truth is, it’s not the best of looks that Williams and Johnson are the very two people who have been most openly carrying the banner for Manziel in recent days. Making matters all the more a potential nightmare P.R. scene for Manziel’s camp is the rookie quarterback spent the July 4 weekend in Las Vegas where he reportedly was seen rolling bills in a club bathroom, a practice BustedCoverage.com reports is typically tied to someone about to use the rolled bills to snort drugs.

Manziel now has three weeks before reporting back to the Browns for the start of training camp later this month and, with The Bieb and Money May now in his ear, who’s to say just who the Browns might be welcoming back to their midst by then.

In maintaining he will remain true to himself no matter what, Manziel also insists he has learned from all his earlier and well documented transgressions. For the Browns’ sake, here’s hoping he continues to be true to his word.

Glenn Minnis is an XN Sports NBA contributor. He has written for the Chicago Tribune, ESPN, BET and AOL. Follow him on Twitter at @glennnyc.

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